Al Ahli have a “50/50” chance of winning an appeal on Wednesday about their disqualification from the Arabian Gulf Cup final, according to chairman Abdullah Al Naboodah.
The Red Knights were stripped of their spot in April 1’s showpiece by the UAE Football Association after they ruled January buy Khamis Esmail was not eligible to play in their 3-2 semi-final win against Al Shabab.
The 26-year-old defensivemidfielder had come on as an 84th minute substitute a day after he completed a Dh60 million switch from fellow giants Al Jazira.
The governing body’s disciplinary committee will meet in Al Khawaneej to make a definitive decision about who will face Al Wahda at Al Maktoum Stadium.
And Al Naboodah took a pragmatic stance about the outcome.
“The final appeal will be heard on Wednesday,” he said.
“We will then know the result behind it. Look, I do not know if we will win it (the appeal). It is 50/50.
“But at the end, we are alwaysoptimistic.
“We will look at the two bigger trophies (President’s Cup and Arabian Gulf League) and just put our heads down and focus on these two big trophies.”
Transfers are declared complete when documents are sent to the UAE FA by both the selling and buying club, with the player then being cleared to play by them.
A four-hour meeting of the organisation’s disciplinary committee on March 6 saw the Red Knights’ last four triumph voided after alleged errors in paperwork on Esmail’s transfer were retrospectively cited.
This saw Shabab awarded a 3-0 win.
“It is a funny one,” said Al Naboodah of the process. “It is something that honestly we are not proud of.
“It is a case which we thought we were not fairly treated in the whole thing. But that is football, you know…”
If the top-flight leaders are reinstated into the decider, they will face issues with player recovery.
The match comes just three days after the UAE’s World Cup 2018 qualifying showdown with Saudi Arabia, for whom they have nine players in Mahdi Ali’s squad.